Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Commodities erased early gains and were recently trading mixed amid mixed economic data from U.S., where consumer confidence continued to fall for the fourth straight session and U.S. home prices shot up in April to post the first monthly gain since last autumn.
The consumer-confidence index declined to 62 in June, lowest since January, from a revised 64.4 in May. A prior estimate for May had pegged the level at 64.9. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index gained 1.3%, with 19 out of 20 cities registering gains, to take the year-on-year drop from 2.6% to 1.9%. Of the 20 cities measured, only hard-hit Detroit took a step backward, with a 3.6% reversal. Even Atlanta, where prices were 17% below year-ago levels, enjoyed a 2.3% monthly gain.
Crude for August delivery was recently trading lower by 0.67% at $78.68 a barrel, off session high of around $80. The contract had spent most of early trading as well as Asian and European hours in the black, following losses on Monday. July gasoline was down -0.52% to $2.63 a gallon. Heating oil for the same month’s delivery rose +0.49% at $2.55 a gallon. July natural gas fell -0.45% to trade at $2.68 per million British thermal units.
On the supply front, weekly U.S. oil inventory will be released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, followed by the more closely watched Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Platts expect a drop in crude oil stocks of one million barrels for the week ended June 22.
Prices of Gold slid after outperforming in the previous session. Gold for August delivery lost -1.09% to $1,571.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The yellow metal was up 1.40% in the prior session on safe haven buying.
The broader metals complex followed gold lower. July silver slumped -2.34% to $26.89 an ounce, while July copper lost -0.26% to $3.31 per pound. July platinum was down -0.71% to $1,429.90 an ounce. September palladium lost $6.20, or 1.1%, to $598.60 an ounce.
United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) was up 0.28 (-0.94%) at $29.53, SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) fell 1.31 (-0.85%) to $152.29, iShares Silver Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:SLV) fell 0.57 (-2.13%) to $26.14 and United States Natural Gas Fund, LP(NYSEARCA:UNG) rose 0.09 (0.49%) to $18.56.
Gevo, Inc.(NASDAQ:GEVO) added 8.26% to $8.78 after yesterday's news that it will collaborate with BioFuel Energy (BIOF) to pursue large-scale isobutanol production. "We have the potential to be at the forefront of the advanced biofuel market," Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber says. BIOF "recognizes this potential and has agreed to explore a possible retrofit of their assets to produce isobutanol."
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.(NASDAQ:PTEN) fell 1.26% as analyst at RBC Capital downgraded the stock to Sector Perform and lowers its target price to $16 from $24. The firm says while it continues to expect PTEN's corporate transformation strategy to play out over the long-term, it is stepping to the sidelines near-term in the face of developing industry headwinds.
Robbins & Myers, Inc.(NYSE:RBN) slumped 5.10% despite the company beats consensus due to an increase in drilling, but net profit falls to $44.2M from $71M; forecasts FQ4 EPS of $0.90-$1, below Street estimates of $1.05; cites concerns about the global economy and its impact on crude oil prices. Comment!